52***All in

"Who dares to enter the Private Chambers of the Goblin King?!" A low but powerful voice resounded behind me! I slowly turned around to see the last Boss.

What greeted me was a War Tortoise! With a horn-rimmed head and shell, standing at 3 times my height and twice that long without counting the tail, this named monster was... pretty tiny considering his normal peers.

To add to this, while it still had the same copper-brown color representing their Earth nature essence, instead of the regular spikes at the end of it's 8 meter tail, it had an almost conical club in its place! And upon closer inspection, the horns rimming his edges were more like ridges.

But that didn't make him any less imposing!!! If anything, he had a feel of sturdyness that trumped other ones (then again, I say this like I've seen one outside a screen)!

"Hmm? Your hair..." He started, a brief look of surprise creeping into his eyes! Seriously, what's the deal with white hair?!!

"Um, G-good day sir! I assume that you're Sher?" I asked, trying my hardest not to crap out.

"... One that is of tainted blood knowing the lost tongue of the Grem folk, and so fluently at that. The times must have changed. " Sher replied after a short pause.

Wait, Grem folk? And what does he mean by tainted blood? Is he talking about the fact that I'm a hybrid of 3 species?! But most importantly, I was speaking Grelfen just now?!!

"Um... might I ask... how do I get out of here?" I asked in a soft and shaky voice, I have at least a thousand questions I want answered, but I can't do that right now. Right now, I need to get the heck into the real world before the entity messing with my head makes me forget that I found it!

"... You seem to misunderstand something Foul Blood." Sher answered, his voice shaking my core with it's presence! Yup named monsters are just a few cuts above the rest in that regard (the ones we fought on our way here don't count).

Startled, I made another attempt, "Sir, I have no intention of interfering with this place, so of you could please show me the door, I'd willingly make my way to it."

*BOOM!!!* *CREEK!!!* *CRUNCH!!!*

"SUCH INSOLENCE!!!" Sher shouted out in a burst of rage!!!

"You say you won't interfere with this place, yet you take in His Greatness' work with your foul eyes and trample upon his soul with your tainted feet!!!" He shot on with no mercy. I could feel by breaths getting shorter and shorter by the second! His killing intent shone through his essence and the essence in the air, causing mine to retreat from whichever depth they came from!!!

Before my brain skipped off to try and figure out just how I was feeling all of this, I felt the air bend around me as an attack faster than I could have possibly seen blasts into my chest!!!

I flew back hard and fast into the wall behind me, my hp. drained straight to 1, my perk kicking in being the only thing stopping me from dropping to zero.

"Oh? So you are one that walks the Way of the Shield." he stated in mild surprise. "Your kind has always been a bother to deal with."

I scrambled in my attempt to catch my bearings, feeling seriously disoriented as I searched for what could have caused that! A few seconds after getting slapped into oblivion, my hp. started recovering itself at incredible speed!

'Thank goodness I'm in a room of Glowstalk.' I thought to myself grimly. I'd be in a tight spot if I couldn't heal quickly!

'But, that was the last time my perk will kick in until I get to a safe point. If I slip up with this guy...' I continued, pumping Body Reinforcement, Detection, and Improv essence into my eyes while sending some to my hands and legs.

"No matter," Sher continued. "I've seen your trick enough to know that it only works for the first strike. You will be dead shortly." At that, Sher did the attack again...

Except this time...

"Explosion? To think that there are still humans that could use that Essence nature." He said in mild amazement as I dodged his attack with a burst of speed! "And paired with the Dwarven Body Techniques at that. It appears you'll be more troublesome to to kill than I first expected."

His aura was still stifling me beyond compare, and the power behind his voice was still as potent, but my mind was elsewhere.

'I could see it!!!!' I said in my mind, half exasperate as I barely got out of there with my life!

I couldn't think for long however, as crumpled to my knees in weakness from all of my Stamina and Essence got drained from me!!!

'Darn it! That maneuver took out most of my all of my essence and most of my stamina!' I assessed in my head, but it was worth as I got a glimpse at what that attack was.

'That was...' I jumped out of my musings as I felt my Essence and Stamina recover instantly!

'Paladin Poppies.' I thought to myself, sighing in relief that not all hope was lost!

'With the poppies and the glowstalk, I just might be able to commence my plan after all!' With that thought in my mind, I took a deep breath, got Body Reinforcement essence flowing through my body and whipped out two shields, pumping them full with Explosive essence! I then got a small area of detection around me!

I could feel the different types of combinations falling apart at the seems, so I sent Improv essence through my body to bring them all together, then pumped as much as I could into my head! And I did this all within a second!

I could feel the air resonate as I started sucking in the free essence from the poppies! I knew it in my now Reinforced mind. If I tried this anywhere else, I would be downed in the second it took me to get here!.

*FULL COIL!!!*

*BOMBSHELL BASH!!!*

*DETECTION FIELD!!!*

*HIGHTENED THOUGHT!!!*

*IMPROVISATION!!!*

Achievement Unlocked: Semblance!

*WHISH!!!*

My Detection Field notified me instantly of an attack, and I was ready for it!

I ducked underneath the blow, and without wasting a second, or even an ounce of momentum, I blasted after him!!!

"TAKE THIS!!!!!" I planted my shield into his face and set off the explosion! Using the blast, I flipped back and fell into a low posture, as far away as possible!!!

"... Interesting Foul Blood!!!!" he started in a terrifying voice!!!"To think you would go this far!!! Very well. I will entertain you, so entertain me!!!"

At that, his life-bar finally appeared above his head, with only a little chink in the green line!

'That was my best shot!' I though, shivering in irrational fear,

'But...' I continued as I readied my shields, 'don't think that's my last!!!'